Gardner, Tipton to be added to Republican letter opposing initiatives

A letter signed by 23 of 27 GOP lawmakers in the state House opposing three tax-slashing initiatives on the November ballot will get some additions, say opponents of the measures.

Republican Reps. Cory Gardner of Yuma and Rep. Scott Tipton of Cortez have asked to add their support to the letter, said Dan Hopkins, spokesman for Coloradans for Responsible Reform, the group opposing Amendments 60 and 61 and Proposition 101.

The additions come after Gardner, who is running for the 4th Congressional District, was bashed by his opponent, Democratic incumbent U.S. Rep. Betsy Markey, for not signing the letter. A story in the Fort Collins Coloradoan today noted Gardner had not signed the letter, something Markey spokesman Ben Marter said proved that Gardner either supported the measures or “doesn’t have the guts to take a stand against them.”

The Coloradoan story quoted Gardner campaign spokeswoman Rachel Boxer as saying, “Cory also opposes the measures. Not sure why they didn’t ask him to sign. Probably just because we’re so busy.”

Hopkins said all lawmakers were given the chance to sign the letter during the legislative session that ended in May, but opponents had intended to follow up with lawmakers who had not signed it.

“We didn’t do the follow-up that we said we would do,” Hopkins said, saying that while Gardner and Tipton would be added to the letter, a full-page ad had already run over the weekend in The Colorado Statesman with those who had signed. Tipton is running for the 3rd Congressional District and faces Democratic incumbent U.S. Rep. John Salazar in November.

Five of 14 GOP state senators also signed the letter, which Hopkins said would be mailed out to Republicans later this week.

Here’s the text of the letter:

To fellow Republicans,

This fall, three initiatives—Proposition 101 and Amendments 60 and 61—will be on the ballot. We have taken a close look at these measures, and we urge you to do the same. After reading each initiative closely, we believe there are too many unknowns and too many potential unintended consequences to earn our support.

We understand that many Coloradans are frustrated with the economy and the recent fee and tax increases by Governor Ritter and the Democrats. We share that frustration and have been working to roll them back and limit the scope of government in Colorado.

Yes, these three issues are a direct reaction to poor treatment of taxpayers by Democrats. However, this reaction is so far overreaching that it will ultimately kill Colorado jobs and strip local governments’ ability to provide police and fire protection and to educate our children.

Each one of these questions will result in far reaching damage to Colorado. When reading the measures, please consider these impacts:

 With registration fees at pre-1920s levels, maintenance of Colorado’s highways and bridges will be severely compromised; this means costlier repairs later and safety tradeoffs we don’t need to make.

 More Coloradans will be at the unemployment lines as contractors and construction firms are forced out of business as the state halts new road or building projects and major public infrastructure projects are orphaned. Critical projects like T-REX will most likely never happen again in Colorado.

 Charter schools will face absurdly complicated and difficult hurdles to acquire buildings and essential equipment—effectively eliminating their ability to do so. Charter schools will also face budget reductions as cuts to state and local education funding hit them as well as other public schools.

 In addition to reduced funding, fire protection districts and law enforcement agencies will also face these same obstacles to acquiring vehicles and life-saving equipment to keep our communities and homes safe.

But don’t just take our word for it; read these initiatives yourselves. We think that you too will reach the same conclusion. If any of these three initiatives pass, governing Colorado and bringing jobs back to our state will be a very difficult task.

We need your support to defeat these measures. Please join us in opposing Proposition 101 and Amendments 60 and 61.

I think the political establishment is missing the anger that is out there among the voters.
These 3 issues were a brilliant stroke by Dougie.
I am going to vote against them, but every time I get my phone bill, I am incensed by the number of added taxes/fees. And, these fees/taxes can be laid directly at the feet of the politicians. cf. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_telephone_excise_tax

Joey Bunch has been a reporter for 28 years, including the last 12 at The Denver Post. For various newspapers he has covered the environment, water issues, politics, civil rights, sports and the casino industry.